SME Marketeers Marketing Project
Google Business Profile
What it is
Previously known as Google Places and Google My Business (GMB), the now named Google Business Profile (GBP) is a tool from Google that gets you 'seen' on the Google Map when people are searching for your service.
Ideal for small business where local business is key. It allows you to detail all key information about your business - your location, telephone number, website address, details about your company, your opening hours, your products / services and most importantly - customer reviews.
Good Google reviews helps 'prove' to users and Google that your company is reliable and trustworthy.
When people search for a service on their phone they have a much higher intent to purchase. Google returns the most appropriate options to them in its 'map pack' highlighting the top three, initially, but then you can opt to view all local companies. The priority order for these companies to show include important information such as proximity to the searcher, relevancy of their services to the search, but also critically the number, frequency and quality of their customers reviews.
How it helps
With the sheer volume of searches a day on Google, being "found" and being returned on 'page one' of any of its listings can massively help all businesses. Just having a website doesn't mean that your customers will find you. As a small business you need to take advantage of every opportunity to be seen. Google My Business is free, and with stats like these you can see why having a Google My Business profile AND reviews can help:
• 70-80% of people research a small business before visiting or making a purchase from them.
• 70% of consumers consult reviews and ratings before purchasing.
Source - https://devrix.com/tutorial/small-business-marketing-statistics-trends/
Regularly posting to Google My Business - just as you would with your social - helps you to continuously be seen by your potential customers.
It's simple to do and we recommend to all our small businesses to get their profile sorted! Finally, the GMB tool offers a simple 'website' option which converts your profile content to a website for free including the hosting. The solution is limited, but if you are looking for a simple solution to getting online, it can be a really useful too.
Examples of our work
Each month 1000-1500 people find our client business in Maps and Search and 4-6% of people seeing our client businesses take action!
For all new client business sites we recommend completing a Google Business Profile. It helps customers to find you and to recommend you to others.
We recommend posting regularly to your GBP profile, just as you would with social and our GBP posts regularly get at 11+ views from search!
Having a complete profile AND getting regular client reviews in Google helps you to be found by more prospective customers!
All clients
Getting Started on Google My Business
As part of your web build, if appropriate, we will complete a Google Business Profile listing for your company. As we mentioned above, it includes the key information about your business, such as your contact details, your location, your opening hours, a description of your business along with your products and/or services.
It also allows you to make regular posts, just like you would on social, which we encourage and include with our Social Media Marketing services.
Don’t underestimate the importance of your GPB listing for a local business!
Click on the Google Business image below and start your profile.
